‘AI washing’: firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

UK companies are performing “yoga-level” stretches to describe themselves as AI specialists in an attempt to capitalise on the buzz around the technology, public relations firms have said.

Weary communications executives tasked with securing media coverage for brands have complained that bosses in low-tech industries or running businesses that use automation but not generative AI, are increasingly demanding they are pitched to journalists as artificial intelligence companies.

“You can almost hear the eyes roll when you mention the word AI to a reporter,” said a publicist in south London who represents a portfolio of tech and design firms. “I’ve watched a steady stream of companies try to bolt the label AI on to whatever they do, no matter how tenuous the link.”

Imran Ariff, a media strategist for Fight or Flight, a London-based communications agency, said: “It can be easy for brands to ‘drink their own Kool-Aid’ when they’re so proud of what they’re doing and consequently, go too far in their efforts to promote their AI capabilities.”

Last month, the US shoe company AllBirds “pivoted” to to acquiring AI graphics processing units, while genetics companies have hyped AI-powered blood tests. In inboxes this month, there have been press releases about AI-powered basketball hoops, and AI-powered lasers that – somehow – protect women from predators on crowded underground platforms.

Some companies have been accused of “AI washing”, trying to rebrand familiar, often years-old, technologies as “AI”.

Technology PRs – whose job it is to send tens, or hundreds, of pitches to journalists each week, the vast majority of which get ignored – have complained about being forced to send out AI-related press releases under duress despite their industries’ image for unscrupulously hyping up products.

“A lot of companies are trying to name every single product with ‘AI’ first, or trying to get ‘AI’ into an actual product name,” said an account director at another firm, based in central London.

“People are littering marketing with how AI is making a difference. It’s an ‘AI-driven’ or ‘AI-powered’ product when in reality, it’s just better automation than we’ve seen before.”

As an example, he described a property company trying to market a tool that would scan a building and generate its floor plan as AI.

“It’s just a handheld scanner. There’s probably elements of AI in it that sort of speed the process up … but it’s actually just automation,” he said. “It’s not the kind of AI that many of us assume it to be.”

He added: “Everyone’s kind of become a bit numb to the AI-powered, AI-driven language. It depends company by company, but I would say about 50% of the stories I send out, I don’t want to send out.”

Communications workers also said that bosses were asked to be presented as commentators on the technology to appear relevant.

“I have seen some Bikram yoga-level stretches by brands in service of trying to manufacture reasons to talk about AI,” said a PR working for a global agency with offices in New York and London.

“It’s something we often have to counsel against, like ‘no journalist is going to include our comment about the government’s sovereign AI fund just because we released a chatbot.’”

Large companies around the world are assessing how closely they want to align their image with AI as they make thousands of job cuts and implement the technology. Last week, the chief executive of Standard Chartered apologised after describing workers poised to lose their jobs to AI as “lower-value human capital”.

Stock market investors have largely shrugged off recent jitters over the AI boom, as well as rising inflation and the war in Iran.